Safing means for high rate of fire multi-barrel automatic weapon



April 30, 1968 R. E. CHIABRANDY 3,380,341

SAFING MEANS FOR HIGH RATE OF FIRE MULTI-BARREL AUTOMATIC WEAPON A "N 5 1 'o m ID .I i 8 l O I l 9. ,Iy l f .'f

^ l t z f' Y .if i J 'I INVENTOR: 5 I g ROBERT E. CHIABRANDY .I

BY hay, C. m

HIS ATTORNEY.

RANDY 3,380,341

OF FIRE MULTI-BARREL AUTOMATIC WEAPON April 30, 1968 R. E. cHlAB SAFING MEANS FOR HIGH RATE 4 Sheets-Sheet E Filed Dec. 2l, 1966 INVENTOR ROBERT E. CHIABRANDY.

BY M119: C W

H|s ATTORNEY.

April 30, 1968 R. E. CHIABRANDY 3,380,341

SAFING MEANS FOR HIGH RATE OF FIRE MULTI-BARREL AUTOMATIC WEAPON Filed Dec. 21, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 mvENToR: Rosen] E. cmmswmwmrY Hls ATTORNEY,

April 30, 1968 R. E. CHIABRANDY 3,380,341

SAFING MEANS FOR HIGH RATE OF FIRE MULTI-BARREL AUTOMATIC WEAPON Filed Dec. 21, 196e 4 sheets-sheet 4 INVENTOR'. ROBERT E. CHIABRANDY BY C.

H IS ATTORNEY.

United States Patent O 3,380,341 SAFING MEANS FOR HIGH RATE F FIRE MULTI-BARREL AUTOMATIC WEAPN Robert E. Chiabrandy, Burlington, Vt., assignor to General Electric Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 603,573 Claims. (Cl. 89-12) This invention relates to an 1automatic weapon of the Gatling-gun type having a plurality of barrels mounted for rotation about :a common axis rand, more particularly, to an improved mechanism for automatically de-activating, or sang the firing mechanism of such a Weapon.

The prolongation of the cold war period has seen an increase in guerrilla type warfare. With this has come a need for improvements in the rate of iire of weapons of the well-known Gatling-gun type, which currently are in the military arsenal for :a variety of applications, e.g., mounting on aircraft for strang missions. While these guns are primarily of 7.62 mm. or mm. size there has been .an increasing need for development of weapons similar in calibre and size to the current hand carried antipersonnel weapon, such vas a rifle. Such a gun would tire a round of approximately .22 inch calibre, as is used, for example, in the current M16 U.S. military rifle.

A typical Gatling-gun type of automatic weapon comprises a housing enclosing and supporting a rotor assembly, the rotor assembly, in turn, supporting a plurality of ba-rrels. These weapons use percussion or electrically fired ammunition and usually carry la mainspring in the cartridge-carrying lbolt assembly for each firing pin. When the rotor is caused to revolve, either by means of an external electrical or hydraulic dn've, or cartridge gas drive, interaction between the housing and the rotor by means of cams .and/or gearing causes the various weapon actions. In this way, ammunition is delivered to the gun bolts, the cartridges chambered, the bolts locked for firing, the cartridges fired, and the empty cartridge cases extracted and ejected.

It will be apparent that automatic weapons of this general type used under adverse field conditions in areas of high humidity, high rainfall, dust and the like-typical of todays guerrilla warfare locations-need frequent maintenance. To protect operators and maintenance personnel while working on the weapon to investigate such conditions as failure to rotate, uneven tiring rates, a complete failure to iire, or failure to feed, extract or eject cartridges, a completely reliable de-activating or sating means is a necessity. Presently weapons of the Gatlinggun type equipped with safety devices have left something to be desired. Specically, known saiing mechanisms, while effective to make inoperable the means to cock the weapon to ready the iin'ng pin foi striking the cartridge primer, nevertheless do not completely remove the mainspring or firing pin actuation means from an operating position. In `other words, with the conventional 'arrangement it is still possible for a jammed cartridge, for example, to be accidentally red. Thus, in the typical Gatlinggun type weapon the gun can still lire a round While on safe if the mainspring is accidentally compressed and released.

Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a more reliable saiing mechanism ice for use in .an improved very high rate of lire, automatic, multi-barrel weapon of the Gatling-gun type.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide, for use in cooperation with the ring pin mechanism of Ian improved very high rate of lire, automatic, multibarrel weapon, sang means operable to effectively deactivate the mainspring of the weapon to prevent its actuating the firing pin or striker mechanism and setting olf the cartridge.

In a disclosed embodiment, the invention is shown to comprise, in combination, a manually operated safng mechanism including means mounted on a unique bolt assembly access cover, the cover forming a sector of the gun housing and supporting an improved cam arrangement on the interior surface thereof for locking la bolt assembly carrying a live cartridge in the firing position, and unlocking the bolt when the cartridge has been tired. More specifically, the saiing mechanism includes a latching arm pivotally mounted on the outer surface of the cam supporting cover. When the weapon is energized for ring, the latching arm intermediate body portion, slidingly received in a rst slot in the cover, is out of contact with a restraining pin mounted on a plunger operating a single mainspring mounted externally on the cover, the pin extending transversely of the plunger and being captured in a second slot in the cover. The restraining pin and latching :arm are so located with respect to each other that movement of the mainspring plunger required for actuation of the tiring pin carried in `a bolt assembly, which has been positioned for ring, is permitted--unless and until the weapon is to be safed. When saling is desired, the latching arm is pivoted .about its cover mounting point which moves one end thereof out of a third slot and olf a detent on the housing and into contact with the restraining pin. The moving arm and pin, in turn, move the plunger, resulting in initially moving, i.e., compressing, the mainspring out of range of contact with a firing lever. Further movement of the latching farm, completely disengages the end of the arm from the housing slot, permitting the bolt vaccess cover or cam supporting means, together with the arm and mainspring, to be fully rotated about a hinge pin at one edge of the cover, completely removing the primary tiring pin actuation means, i.e., the weapons mainspring, from alignment with an part of the gun bolt assembly. In this manner, accidental compression of the single, externally mounted mainspring of the improved, very high rate of lire automatic, multi-barrel weapon described herein cannot cause the gun to fire, in the event a live round is jammed or otherwise retained in a chambered position. In addition, maintenance or repair of both the external and internal tiring mechanism components of the weapon is greatly facilitated.

While the specification yconcludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter of my invention, it is believed the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of its structure and operation, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is an external view of an improved automatic weapon of the Gatling-gun type incorporating the safing mechanism of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the weapon of FIG. l taken along line 2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the weapon of FIG. 1

with the latching cam or arm disengaged and the bolt access cover member fully opened for complete deactiva tion of the ring mechanism of the weapon;

FIG. 4 is an expanded plan view of the external surface of the gun housing illustrating several of the cooperating parts of the tiring mechanism of the improved weapon and my novel sang mechanism, the weapon parts being shown in the ready-to-fire position and the latching arm in an alternate configuration; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cam cover housing sector illustrating the latching arm slot and support arrangement.

DESCRIPTION Turning now to the drawings, in particular FIGS. l and 2, the major components of an automatic weapon of the Gatling-gun type shown incorporating my invention are: (1) a rotor assembly, indicated generally at 10; (2) a gun housing, indicated generally at (3) a housing bolt access cover or cam member, indicated generally at (4) a guide bar assembly, indicated generally at 4S; (5) front and rear gun supporting means 50 and 55, respectively; (6) a plurality of barrels, one of which is indicated at and (7) barrel clamping means, indicated at and 80. Also indicated in FIG. 1 is an arrangement for actuating all of the firing pins by a single mainspring 142 mounted externally of the bolt assemblies, i.e., in a bolt access cover or cam supporting member 30. The safing mechanism of my invention is indicated generally at 120.

For an understanding of the operation of the weapon, in which my invention is incorporated, it is advisable to describe in some detail, several of the major operating components. Turning first to a detailed description of the rotor assembly 10, which is a main structural component, it will be noted that the rotor is supported in the housing 20 at either end by bearings 11a-11b to permit relative rotation therebetween. The front part of the rotor body also supports the barrel cluster. To this end, there are provided a plurality of openings, in this instance six in number, one of which is indicated at 12. Each opening is threaded for engagement with a threaded end 14 of a barrel 60. Each barrel end has a shoulder portion adapted to seat in a coutnerbore 10a in the rotor body face 10b, whereby the extreme rearward end or chamber portion 60b of the barrel is aligned with the locking well portion 16 of the rotor. The barrels may also be fixed in place by other suitable locking means, such as cams, lugs, or pins. The rotor body, in this instance, is machined in one piece and has a plurality of bolt slots or grooves, indicated generally at 18, broached or otherwise cut axially of the body and spaced circumferentially thereabout. As seen in FIG. 3, the rotor slots 18 include a plurality of guide ways or tracks which cooperate with mating parts of the bolts assembly, hereinafter described in detail. To this end, each track or slot 18 includes an upper lateral support or cam roller guide way 21. The bottom or radially inward boundary of the guide way 21 is formed by a pair of laterally-projecting walls 22-22. The space between the projecting walls forms a recess or guide-way 23 for the main body portion of the bolt assembly indicated at 100. The ways or grooves 18 in the rotor body are further cut away beneath the projecting walls 22-22 to form a guide way 24 for the head portion of a roller shaft locking or guide pin as well as extractor lugs, which are parts of the bolt assembly illustrated. Finally, groove 18 has a bottom wall 26 providing clearance for the body portion of the bolt assembly. Obviously, the tracks or Ways 18 could also be formed by fastening to the rotor body-at the diameter of the guide way 26, a plurality of machined pieces having the necessary laterally-projecting portions to form the required track dimensions to receive the bolts. As is also shown in FIG. 2, at the rear of the rotor is a drive gear 28 held by a retainer plate 29 fastened to the rotor by a plurality of s:rews, one of which is indicated at 29a. It will be noted that the rearward portion 10c of the rotor body ends in a groove 32 which comprises one extremity of a stepped-down middle portion of the rotor incorporating a continuation of the guide ways 22, 23 and 24. Groove 32 is provided for clearance of the rear end of the bolt assembly depicted in FIG. 2, in particular, the head end of the guide pin, to faciiitate a removal of the bolt assembly. A pair of clearance slots 33-33 are provided in the rotor body to permit extension into the rotor body of a plurality of cartridge delivery ngers of the cartridge guide bar assembly, indicated generally at 45. At the forward end of the middle rotor poriton is a locking well 16. The locking well includes a breech lock surface 36 adapted to be engaged by a pair of locking lugs on the bolt. Surface 37 on the forward maximum diameter portion of the rotor body contains the barrel holes 12 and provides a forward boundary wall in the locking well 16. At the extreme forward end of the rotor body is a recess or shoulder portion 38 adapted to receive the front bearing means 11a for rotatably supporting the rotor within housing 20 at pad 42. At the rearward end of the housing is another reduced diameter portion 41 having a pad 43 adapted to tightly abut and support rear bearing means 11b. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer surface of portion 41 may be provided with lugs 41a or other means suitable for fastening the gun to a supporting member and/or to externally mounted gun accessories (not shown), which may include an ammunition storage and feed system. The housing include a main cam 44 or track having a quasielliptical shape. As will be apparent, each bolt assembly is reciprocably moved longitudinally-axially-of the gun to pick up and deliver the runds to the chamber, and return the spent case for ejection on relative rotation of the rotor and housing. A pad portion, indicated generally at 45a, is also provided for support of the cartridge guide bar assembly 45. A number of support pads are cast or formed integrally with the housing, including pads 46a and 46b used to pivotaly support a plurality of actuating members or levers. A pair of drilled bosses 48a and 48h, aligned axially of the gun, pivotally support the bolt access cover or cam member indicated at 30. A further pad 242 also provides a latching slot for latching arm 120 and many contain a detent mechanism 243 for the latching arm of my invention. As shown in FIG. 2 `at the front of the rotor is a retainer plate 52 fastened by bolt 53 to the rotor face.

Another major component of the multi-barrel automatic weapon of FIG. l is the bolt assembly, indicated generally at 100, in FIG. 2. As explained, lbolts in the typical prior art weapons of the Gatling-gun type gun firing percussion ammunition each contain an individual firing pin and a plunger and mainspring assembly to initiate tiring of the cartridge, as well as guide means and extractor lugs for gripping the cartridge case. As seen in FIG. 2, bolt assembly includes an elongated generally rectangular body portion 110. The body portion supports cam follower means for engaging the housing cam track and rotor guides comprising a follower roller 112, an anti-friction roller 114, a roller shaft 116 and a guide pin 118. Positioned in the bolt body, in a longitudinally extending central passageway 119, is a hammer, indicated generally at 122, a striker or firing pin, indicated at 124, and a retractor spring 126. A closure wall member or recoil plate 129 is force-fitted in the body at the forward end thereof, the recoil plate 129 having an aperture 129:1 therethrough adapted to receive striker 124 to permit the latter to contact the cartridge primer for ignition of the round. It will be noted that body 110, preferably a cast or forged piece, also includes means cooperating with cam means on the housing to lock and unlock the bolt assembly during operation of the weapon. To this end, a generally L-shaped lug 131 is provided, including an unlocking, forward facing tang 131a and an outer locking surface 131b. The forward end of the bolt body also includes integral cartridge-carrying lug means 132a-132a, best seen in FIG.

3, for gripping the extractor rim of a cartridge case. Locking lugs 134:1, as also best seen in FIG. 3, are incorporated on the body portion 110. Lugs 134a-134a or 132a 132a ride outwardly and inwardly, respectively, of guide walls 22-22 of rotor body 10, during operation of the weapon. Finally, it will be noted that the head of the roller shaft locking and guide pin 118 is enlarged at 118a. The guide pin head is adapted to ride in slot 24 in the rotor body, bearing on the inner and the outer walls thereof, for controlled relative longitudinal movement of the bolt assembly 100 with respect to the rotor. During operation, the guide pin head 118a is always to the rear of the rotor slot 32, while the forward end of the bolt is held in place by the above described engagement of the locking and extractor lugs with the guide ways.

A feature of the disclosed weapon is the provision of a single mainspring mounted externally of the primary firing mechanism of the weapon. That is, in FIGURES 3 and 4 it will be seen that secured to pads 48a and 48b of the housing by a hinge pin 48e received in a hole 48d is a cam member or bolt access cover, indicated generally at 30. The curvature of portion a is provided to conform the cover to the circular shape of the generally cylindrical walls of the housing 20, of which the cover forms a part when closed. When opened, the cover provides access to the bolt assemblies for repair or replacement thereof. This arrangement greatly facilitates maintenance on the weapon, when, for example, any one of six bolt assemblies may require work. In accordance with a primary feature of my invention, the bolt access cover or cam member 30 is so interlocked with the firing pin actuation mechanism that the mainspring is automatically deactivated and incapable of causing the gun to fire whenever the cover is opened for maintenance. In addition, this feature provides a manual saling device for use during maintenance on any part of the gun or its associated equipment.

The cover member 30, as will be seen, also functions as an external mounting platform for the single mainspring operable to actuate the tiring mechanisms described herein, as well as to support and locate the several cam means necessary to actuate bolt locking and unlocking. To this end, the outer surface of the cover, as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5, includes a pair of ribs 133--133 extending from the hinge pin tunnel or boss portion 132 toward a similarly enlarged edge portion 134 at the opposite lateral side of the body portion 30a. Extending partially longitudinally of edge portion 134 is a recess or hole 135, the forward or bottom wall of which opens to a smaller Passage 136, which, in turn, opens at the forward edge of the body portion 30a. Intersecting the smaller passage 136 at right angles thereto is still another smaller passage in the form of a slot 137. Further, as seen in FIG. 5, the thickened portion 134 of this edge of the cover body is partially cut away to form a larger slot 139, intersecting slot 137. Slot 139 is adapted to receive a part of the latching means portion of the invention, indicated generally at 120. Latching mechanism or means 120 includes a latching bar or cam 240 pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on the cover body by means of a pin 241 inserted in a hole 241a in a boss formed on the exterior or outer surface of the cover body 30a. A slot 242a is provided in pad 242 on the housing to receive a portion of arm 240. A spring actuated detent may also be provided, as indicated generally at 243, of the ball and plunger variety to maintain the cam 240 in slot 242m Passage 135 at the rear edge of body 30a receives mainspring 142 and plunger 144 associated therewith. The mainspring rests between the bottom wall of passage 135 and a head or shoulder 144a at one end of the plunger. It will be noted that the opposite end of the plunger has a hole 146. Projecting laterally of the plunger and into slot 137 for relative sliding movement therein, in accordance with the sang feature of my invention, is a pin 147 which is tightly fitted in the transverse hole 146 in the plunger body.

As stated, cam member 30 preferably Ysupports means provided for cooperation with a plurality of levers, indicated generally at and 162, for operating the hammer 122. Specifically, there is a locking cam indicated generally at 164, a cocking lever stop lug indicated generally at 165, a retractor cam indicated generally at 166, and an unlocking cam indicated generally at 168. The cocking lever stop lug projects inwardly of the housing during operation of the weapon, and includes a pair of bearing surfaces 165a and 165b each adapted to contact the cocking lever 160 during one portion of the firing cycle. Locking cam 164, located adjacent the forward edge of body portion 30a, includes an initial locking ramp portion 164rz, a holding ramp portion 164b and a clearance ramp portion 164e, serially arranged along its interior surface. Unlocking cam 168, of generally L-shaped configuration, is pinned to the cover 30 by means 16811 and has a tang 168b adapted to engage tang 131a of bolt assembly 100. Tang 16811 overlies clearance ramp 164C of locking cam means 164. Retractor cam 166, on the other hand, projects from the surface with its longitudinal axis skewed from a plane parallel to the general direction of surface 165b, i.e., a plane normal to the gun axis. The retractor cam includes an initial contact surface or ramp portion 166a, which proceeds at an angle back along the cam body to a small at ramp portion 16617 at the eX- treme end of the effective length of the cam body. The retractor cam is positioned to contact hammer 122 shortly after the hammer disengages both the cocking and iiring levers 160, 162. As will be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, both cocking lever 160 and firing lever 162 are pivotally mounted on pins 170 and 172, respectively, supported in the housing 20. The cocking lever is generally triangular, having a hammer contact arm 174, a stop contacting or bearing surface 175, and a ring lever contact or driving arm 176. Conversely, the tiring lever 162 has a driven arm 177, a power arm 178, and a hammer contact arm OPERATION As described above, the conventional multi-barrel, high rate of re automatic weapon of the Gatling-gun variety includes a rotor supporting a plurality of barrels for rotation about a common axis, the rotor also having tracks or guideways for a plurality of cartridge-carrying bolt assemblies. Contrary to known safety devices for such guns, when the bolt access cover 30 of the improved weapon illustrated herein is opened for removal, for example, of a jammed cartridge case, the possibility 0f a cartridge partly locked in the breech being tired is prevented. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, in particular, the bolt access cover 30 supports the plunger 144 and mainspring 142. While the spring is shown mounted in the cover it will be understood that it could also be mounted directly to housing 30 and interlocked with the cover. When the gun is to be fired cam member 30 is locked in position by means of latching arm or cam 240 as follows. As shown in FIG. 4 (latched), arm 240* has been pivoted counter clockwise about pin 241, a portion of the latching arm entering slot 242 on housing 20. The latch is retained in slot 242, if desired, by the detent mechanism, indicated at 243. In this position, pin 147 extends transversely of plunger 144, riding in the open-ended slot 137 in the cover 30. During ring, sufficient clearance is provided between pin 147 and the arm 240 to permit the necessary movement of the plunger 144 and its associated mainspring 142 for contact with the hammer actuating lever 162. When it is desired to open the weapon for inspection the operator grasps latch arm or handle 240', rotating it about pivot pin 241, in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4. The latch could, of course, be mounted on the other side of the cover-housing assembly, as shown in FIG. 1, which would reverse the direction of movement. In any event, the latch moves off detent 243, `and outwardly of slot 242, as well as moving in cover slot 139 and into contact with pin 147, which in turn pulls plunger 142-and mainspring 144-to the left (in FIG. 4) and out of contact with power arm 178 of tiring lever 162. Lever 162 is prevented from rotating far enough in the counter-clockwise direction to contact the plunger at this point, since it would first Contact cocking lever 160, through arm 176 thereof, cocking lever 160, in turn, being held in place by stop lug means 16S. The tiring pin hammer 122 and striker 124 are thus disabled. T he latching arm or cam 240 can subsequently be further rotated to bring it completely out of housing slot 242, charnfered for clearance at 242b, at which point cover assembly 30 is rotatable about hinge pin 48C, which carries the mainspring 142 and plunger 144 far beyond any possibility of contact with firing lever 160, thus completely safing the weapon.

Other relative mounting arrangements of the cocking and tiring levers and the mainspring may be provided to accomplish the described misalignment of the mainspring and the bolt hammer and striker. For example, an alternate arrangement would be to pivotally attach the firing and cocking levers to the underside of the bolt access cover. In addition, the latch arm 240 could be mounted to the cover in such a way as to be pivotable--or movable-into position to physically block rotation of the rotor by hand, if desired, thus preventing advancement of a bolt assembly to a position where the cartridge primer could be struck by other means.

It will be realized that the above described safing means o is also useful as a quickly operated, completely reliable means for manually safing the weapon when it is desired to work on other parts of the weapon. That is, even in the absence of jamming or need to have access to the bolts, for example, to solve problems connected with the rotor drive or associated equipment, the weapon can be worked on in complete safety.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An improved multi-barrel, high rate of fire automatic weapon comprising:

a generally cylindrical housing having cam means on an internal peripheral surface thereof;

an externally-powered rotor assembly coaxially supported within said housing for relative rotation with respect thereto, said rotor assembly including a body portion having a plurality of guide ways circumferentially spaced about the periphery and a plurality of barrel receiving ports at one end thereof, a plurality of cartridge-carrying bolts each slidably received in one of said rotor ways, each of said bolts having follower means cooperating with said housing cam means for longitudinal reciprocal movement of said bolts with respect to the rotor assembly and a firing pin assembly including a hammer radially projecting outwardly of the bolt;

means for actuating said tiring pin assembly including a mainspring and a plurality of lever members pivotally mounted in said housing and operably connected between said mainspring and said hammer, wherein respective ones of said lever members are sequentially engaged and disengaged by said hammer, responsive to said longitudinal reciprocal movement, to pivot said lever members for successively compressing and releasing said mainspring;

a cover member pivotally mounted on and forming a sector of the generally cylindrical housing when closed, said member including,

(1) cam means on an interior surface thereof, (2) a rst mounting pad extending along a lateral edge of the cover and projecting upwardly of the exterior surface thereof `and having a central bore therethrough, said bore including an axially aligned recess of reduced diameter at one end thereof, said mainspring being received in the larger portion of said bore,

(3) a first slot extending transversely of said lirst pad approximately tangentially to the crosssectional arc of said housing sector, said first slot underlying the recessed portion of said bore,

(4) a second slot in a plane extending generally perpendicular to and intersecting said first slot and said recess,

(5) a second pad adjacent said first pad and said second slot;

a plunger member for said mainspring having one end slidingly received in said bore recess, the other end thereof having a shoulder restraining said mainspring in the larger portion of said bore, said shoulder normally contacting one of said lever members',

a pin extending transversely of said plunger adjacent said one end thereof and received in said second slot for movement inwardly and outwardly thereof;

a latching arm pivotally mounted on said second pad, said latching arm having an intermediate portion thereof slidingly received in said rst slot inwardly of said pin, wherein said latching arm is movable outwardly of said first slot to engage said pin, thereby moving said plunger out of contact with said lever member to make said mainspring inoperable to tire said weapon.

2. The apparatus of the invention according to claim 1 wherein said housing includes a third pad located adjacent said cover opening in the housing, said third pad having Ia third slot lying in the same plane as said first slot, said third slot receiving one end of said latching arm for retaining said arm therein to lock said cover in the sector forming position.

3. The apparatus of the invention according to claim 2 wherein said third slot includes detent means for securing said one end of said latching arm therein, and wherein said latching arm is movable completely out of said third slot for pivoting movement of said cover, said mainspring, and said latching arm and pin through a substantially 180 arc to completely deactivate said weapon and provide easy access to said bolts with disassembling said weapon.

4. In an automatic weapon having a plurality of barrels circumferentially arranged about a common axis, a rotor assembly supporting said barrels, said rotor assembly having a plurality of cartridge-carrying bolts mounting in axial ways thereof having cam follower means thereon, a housing circumferentially spaced about and rotatably supporting said rotor, said housing including cam means cooperating with said bolt follower means for reciprocal longitudinal movement of said bolts to and from a forward ring position responsive to the relative rotation of the rotor and housing, the improvement of saug means for said weapon comprising, in combination:

a mainspring mounted on said housing;

lever means pivotally mounted interiorly of said housing adjacent to and operably connected with said mainspring, said lever means including arms projecting radially inwardly of said housing and operable to successively engage said firing mechanisms to cause the ring mechanisms of said bolts to be driven into contact with catridges for ring of same;

a cover member including means pivotally mounting said cover member at one lateral edge thereof on the housing to form a sector thereof when in a closed position, a pad projecting outwardly of the exterior surface and along the opposite lateral edge of said member, said pad having a first recess receiving said mainspring and a second smaller recess opening into said first recess at one end thereof, a rst slot extending transversely of said pad partially along the length thereof and underlying said second recess;

a Contact member having a reduced end portion slidingly received in said second recess, the other end thereof having a shoulder restraining said mainspring in said first recess, said shoulder normally contacting one of the arms of said lever means; a latching arm pivotally mounted on said cover and slidingly received in said first slot; and a latching member extending transversely of said contact member adjacent said one end thereof, said latching member being received in a second slot lying in a plane perpendicular to and intersecting the plane of said first slot, said latching member normally being positioned outwardly of said latching arm in said first slot, wherein on pivoting movement of said latching arm outwardly of said lirst slot, said latching member is contacted by said arm for disengage- -ment of said shoulder from said one lever arm to make said mainspring inoperable to fire the weapon. 5. In an automatic weapon having a plurality of barrels circumferentially arranged for rotation about a common axis, a rotor supporting said barrels, a housing circumferentially spaced about and rotatably supporting said rotor, `a plurality of bolt assemblies mounted in ways on the rotor for reciprocal longitudinal movement thereof to and from a forward firing position, said bolt assemblies each including a firing mechanism, and actuating means including a mainspring and a plurality of lever means connected thereto, respective ones of said lever means being normally successively engaged and disengaged by said tiring mechanisms, responsive to said longitudinal movement, for successively compressing Iand releasing said mainspring, whereby said actuating means operates successive ones of said firing mechanisms to discharge cartridges carried by said bolt assemblies, the improvement of means incapacitating the tiring mechanisms of said bolt assemblies comprising:

a cover member pivotally mounted on said housing;

and

latching means operable between a first position on said cover, wherein said cover is in a closed position forming a sector of said housing, and a second position, wherein said cover is pivotable to open said housing for access to the -bolt assemblies, said latching means comprising:

an elongated arm pivotally mounted on said cover member and received in a first slot therein, said tirst slot extending generally tangentially with respect to the arc of said cover member sector.

a restraining member laxially slidably received for limited movement in a second slot in said cover, said second slot being perpendicular to and intersecting said first slot, and

a plunger supporting said restraining member said plunger being received in a recess in said cover and capturing said mainspring in said recess,

whereby pivotal movement of the arm of said latching means towards said second position causes said arm to contact said restraining member and move said plunger against said mainspring to prevent said mainspring from operating said lever means.

No references cited.

SAMUEL W. EN GLE, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN IMPROVED MULTI-BARREL, HIGH RATE OF FIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPON COMPRISING: A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HOUSING HAVING CAM MEANS ON AN INTERNAL PERIPHERAL SURFACE THEREOF; AN EXTERNALLY-POWERED ROTOR ASSEMBLY COAXIALLY SUPPORTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR RELATIVE ROTATION WITH RESPECT THERETO, SAID ROTOR ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A BODY PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF GUIDE WAYS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED ABOUT THE PERIPHERY AND A PLURALITY OF BARREL RECEIVING PORTS AT ONE END THEREOF, A PLURALITY OF CARTRIDGE-CARRYING BOLTS EACH SLIDABLY RECEIVED IN ONE OF SAID ROTOR WAYS, EACH OF SAID BOLTS HAVING FOLLOWER MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID HOUSING CAM MEANS FOR LONGITUDINAL RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT OF SAID BOLTS WITH RESPECT TO THE ROTOR ASSEMBLY AND A FIRING PIN ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A HAMMER RADIALLY PROJECTING OUTWARDLY OF THE BOLT; MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID FIRING PIN ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A MAINSPRING AND A PLURALITY OF LEVER MEMBERS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING AND OPERABLY CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID MAINSPRING AND SAID HAMMER, WHEREIN RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID LEVER MEMBERS ARE SEQUENTIALLY ENGAGED AND DISENGAGED BY SAID HAMMER, RESPONSIVE TO SAID LONGITUDINAL RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT, TO PIVOT SAID LEVER MEMBERS FOR SUCCESSIVELY COMPRESSING AND RELEASING SAID MAINSPRING; A COVER MEMBER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON AND FORMING A SECTOR OF THE GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HOUSING WHEN CLOSED, SAID MEMBER INCLUDING, (1) CAM MEANS ON AN INTERIOR SURFACE THEREOF, (2) A FIRST MOUNTING PAD EXTENDING ALONG A LATERAL EDGE OF THE COVER AND PROJECTING UPWARDLY OF THE EXTERIOR SURFACE THEREOF AND HAVING A CENTRAL BORE THERETHROUGH, SAID BORE INCLUDING AN AXIALLY ALIGNED RECESS OF REDUCED DIAMETER AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID MAINSPRING BEING RECEIVED IN THE LARGER PORTION OF SAID BORE, (3) A FIRST SLOT EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID FIRST PAD APPROXIMATELY TANGENTIALLY TO THE CROSSSECTIONAL ARC OF SAID HOUSING SECTOR, SAID FIRST SLOT UNDERLYING THE RECESSED PORTION OF SAID BORE, (4) A SECOND SLOT IN A PLANE EXTENDING GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO AND INTERSECTING SAID FIRST SLOT AND SAID RECESS, (5) A SECOND PAD ADJACENT SAID FIRST PAD AND SAID SECOND SLOT; A PLUNGER MEMBER FOR SAID MAINSPRING HAVING ONE END SLIDINGLY RECEIVED IN SAID BORE RECESS, THE OTHER END THEREOF HAVING A SHOULDER RESTRAINING SAID MAINSPRING IN THE LARGER PORTION OF SAID BORE, SAID SHOULDER NORMALLY CONTACTING ONE OF SAID LEVER MEMBERS; A PIN EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID PLUNGER ADJACENT SAID ONE END THEREOF AND RECEIVED IN SAID SECOND SLOT FOR MOVEMENT INWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY THEREOF; A LATCHING ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SECOND PAD, SAID LATCHING ARM HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION THEREOF SLIDINGLY RECEIVED IN SAID FIRST SLOT INWARDLY OF SAID PIN, WHEREIN SAID LATCHING ARM IS MOVABLE OUTWARDLY OF SAID FIRST SLOT TO ENGAGE SAID PIN, THEREBY MOVING SAID PLUNGER OUT OF CONTACT WITH SAID LEVER MEMBER TO MAKE SAID MAINSPRING INOPERABLE TO FIRE SAID WEAPON. 